A large number of school-going girls from Gr. 8, as well as young women, registered for the first-ever Women’s Rugby Clinic, presented by the Griqualand West Rugby Union (GWRU) in Kimberley.
Organisers are extremely pleased with the big turnout, saying the event on Saturday, 15 March, at the Suzuki Stadium is a step closer to putting women’s rugby in the Northern Cape on the next level.
“The aim is that every school in the Northern Cape must have an U16 and U18 girls’ rugby team,” says Kat Swanepoel, manager of amateur rugby at the GWRU.
In achieving this, there will be a better feed of skilled women’s rugby players to the province’s senior women teams.
Swanepoel says many learners of the Kimberley High Technical School showed up, as well as learners of the Kimberley Girls’ High School. The oldest woman who registered is 36 years old.
During the clinic, players were introduced to the game and exposed to basic skills on the field. Teamwork, confidence, and leadership qualities were also touched on.
Global, national drive to expand women’s rugby
The clinic, with more to follow, is in line with the national drive of the South African Rugby Union (Saru) to expand women’s rugby in the country.
According to several Saru online documents and releases, the growth of women’s rugby has increased globally, and South Africa has joined in by committing to professionalise the domestic game and its structures.
It is stated that “women’s rugby, as well as the involvement of women in rugby structures, is a World Rugby, Saru, and governmental imperative.”
To assist, Saru Youth Training Centres (YTC) have been established in several provinces, and the Get Into Rugby (GIR) programme was introduced.
“It forms part of Saru’s strategy to engage players of all ages to try, play, and stay in rugby. It is a grassroots initiative spread across all nine provinces and aims to support young people and discover raw talent,” as stated in a document.
Also, “If women are to compete successfully against top countries in the rugby world, underage representative participation as part of a pipeline, comprising at least three underage categories as well as increased participation opportunities at school level backed up by appropriate high-performance structures, are key to success.”
Swanepoel says a process is taking place to get coaches for girls’ rugby teams at schools, which is another way women can get involved in rugby.
- Call Swanepoel on 082-822-3770 or Melissa Niewenhuizen on 081-055-9581 for more information.
